As young adults, saving remains a crucial part of our lives; it’s how we build the nest egg that helps us buy our beachfront houses and the Teslas we desire and also ensures we retire as early as we want.
BUT! As easy as it sounds, the act itself is one of the hardest things to start and requires a lot of consistency, especially with inflation on the rise. This shouldn’t deter you. With the right savings plan and savings partner, you’re well on your way to getting the hang of it — We’ve got you covered.
How to Start Saving in Nigeria
In this article, we’ll provide realistic tips to help you start saving with Raven as your trusted savings partner.
Here’s how to start saving:
- Be Realistic
The first rule to follow when saving is to be realistic. As good as saving 10 million Naira at the end of the year sounds, it’s unrealistic if you don’t earn enough to account for it. Your savings realistically NEED to match your budget; otherwise, that defeats the entire purpose.
Granted, we all have big dreams, plans to own two houses, one home and the other abroad, etc. Those dreams will simply remain just dreams if you don’t start putting in work and laying the foundation to get there. So, set practical savings goals and work towards them.
Now that we’ve established this, what’s next?
- Have an Emergency Fund
One mistake most people make is considering their savings as their emergency fund, and here’s where they get things wrong. Your emergency fund is strictly for emergencies, and your savings are yours.
Not knowing the difference is why many people often deplete their savings to handle emergencies. To avoid this, create an emergency fund containing three to six months of living expenses. To start building an emergency fund, consider using the Spend-Save feature on Raven, which saves 5% of every transaction you make with your account.
With this feature, for every 20,000 spent, you’ll save 1000 and so on. This ensures that you save something every day, and your funds can be easily withdrawn when needed.
- Budget Budget Budget!
You know the 50–30–20 rule; it’s real, and it works. With this budget rule, you get to allocate 50% of your income to necessities, 30% to entertainment and fun (because who doesn’t like jaiye) and 20% of your budget to your savings.
Granted, soft life is fun, but not when you have bills to handle. With a well-planned budget, you’re well on your way to building a solid nest egg.
- Set Targets
One way to keep your savings in check is to set targets, aka saving goals. So if you intend to save 1 million Naira in six months, you’ve got to work towards it. We recommend using Raven Target Savings to help you achieve your saving goal by setting an automatic saving frequency. In this case, let’s say you set a goal to save 170,000 Naira every month for six months; you can do this and earn interest on your savings.
A 2-for-1 deal, no doubt.
- Invest
Investments can be high-risk, but how about investing in high-interest savings? Raven HIFA allows you to hold your savings for short periods and enjoy up to 14% interest on your savings. This way, you get to save for a length of time and do more with your savings.
How to Start Saving with Raven
Raven offers you several saving plans to suit your saving needs:
- Target Savings: With our target savings plan, you can set goals and save up to meet them, choosing the frequency and timeline of your savings.
- Fixed Savings: This saving plan allows you to set money aside until needed.
- HIFA: With Raven HIFA, you can save lump sums of money for short periods and enjoy interest of up to 14% per annum.
- Spend x Savings: With this daily savings plan, you can save a certain percentage of all transactions made using Raven. With a minimum percentage of 5%, you save every amount you spend on expenses. The perfect emergency fund for you.
- Global Savings (Coming Soon): Using this soon-to-be-launched plan, you can save against inflation in foreign currencies (forex).
With these tips and Raven as your savings partner, you’re well-equipped to start your savings journey. Your dreams are closer than you think, and we’re here to help you achieve them. Happy saving!
